So Cliche
by ausllydawmoon
Summary: Or where the valedictorian tutors the broody loner with the leather jacket. Auslly. One-shot.


As someone who prides herself on usually being the smartest person in the room, Ally has made an uncharacteristically dumb decision. For some reason unknown to her, she agreed to tutor one of the most notoriously unmotivated slackers in her entire high school. If she's being honest, she doesn't buy the quips her friends make about Austin Moon being an idiot; he's just one of those losers who thinks he's too cool to actually apply himself and gets bad grades so he can make the same "I got a 'big D'" joke every time he gets a test back.

But helping people is in her nature, so when her former math teacher approaches her in January about tutoring Austin, she agrees without really thinking about it. But now she has to deal with a broody, arrogant asshole three times a week and she isn't sure if she'll be able to handle it.

She taps her fingers nervously on the table in front of her as she waits for Austin in the tutoring center after school. She wonders if he forgot. Or maybe he's just ditching her. No, if he wasn't coming, he would let her know, right? Then again, he doesn't really seem to care about common courtesy so it's hard to say for sure.

Just as she starts debating whether or not she should text him, he saunters into the room, his hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket. He sits down wordlessly beside her, dropping his backpack ungracefully on the table in front of him.

"Hi, Austin," she says, trying to sound as cheery as possible. "I'm Ally. I heard you were having trouble – "

"I know you heard, that's why you're here," he interrupts, unzipping his backpack and pulling out his supplies.

"Right. Um, remind me what math class you're in again?"

"Stats. It's the one they make the kids not smart enough for pre-calc take."

"I took stats."

"You took _AP _Stats. That's different."

"Well, I think you're smarter than you want people to think."

"Then you're about to be real disappointed." He opens his textbook and his notes. She raises her eyebrows when she realizes that he's actually been taking meticulous notes in class. Sure, they're a little messy and in smeared pencil instead of pen like an amateur, but they're detailed and complete with examples and diagrams. She's impressed.

"So, what don't you understand?"

"All of it. I failed last semester but she says if I actually try this semester she'll give me a passing grade so I don't have to retake it."

"That's nice of her."

"I guess."

"So, instead of just saying 'All of it,' do you wanna tell me what you _actually _don't understand? Is it the homework, or do you just not know how to study, or—"

"I _actually _don't understand any of it," he interrupts. "Deadass. Start from the beginning."

"Austin, I need at least a little specificity. I can't reteach you the entire first semester _and _help you with what you're doing now."

"Okay, well I'm being serious. I don't even get the basics. Much less whatever the hell is going on now."

"If you really want me to go over everything with you, we'd have to meet, like, every day, and I know you don't wanna do that," she tells him.

"Would you do it?" he asks.

She looks at him incredulously. "You're not serious."

He crosses his arms and leans back in his chair, looking over at her with his piercing, cold eyes. "You think that because I get bad grades I don't care and don't try hard enough and don't _want _to try," he says.

"Yeah, kinda. You give off that vibe."

"Well, Ally, contrary to popular belief, I _do _try. I work my ass off, and I still fail. I've started giving up a little because of how useless it seems to be, but if you think meeting every day is what it's gonna take, then I'll do it."

"So…you _want _to do well?"

"No one _enjoys _failing."

"I thought you and your group purposely failed to seem cool."

Austin rolls his eyes. "First of all, I don't have a 'group.' Second of all, people who fail on purpose deserve to fail anyway because they're idiots. And third, you shouldn't make assumptions about people you don't know."

"Fair point. Well, if you want to put in the effort and meet every day, then I absolutely want to help you."

He raises his eyebrows and looks over at her. "Really? Just like that?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I want to help someone who openly asks for it?"

"Because you don't know me, aren't gaining anything by helping me, and have no obligation."

"Well, I enjoy helping people." She smiles at him. "So, shall we get started?"

"Don't say 'shall'."

"Do you have a way that you prefer to study that you know is effective?" she asks him. He shakes his head. "Okay," she continues. "Well, I find the best way for me to learn is by going through practice problems. Let's go back and redo your homework from each lesson."

So for the next hour, that's what they do. All it takes for him to understand the first two lessons is a more detailed explanation of how to do each problem, so they actually get halfway through the third lesson by the time the tutoring session is over.

"If you can, see if you're able finish the rest of those problems on your own," Ally suggests as they pack up. "You can text me if you have any quick questions, but don't worry about it if you still don't get it or you don't have time."

"Yeah, okay," Austin says. "Um, thank you."

"Of course," she replies. They leave the classroom together. "For tomorrow though, and all Tuesdays and Thursdays actually, I have to pick up my sister and my neighbor from school, so could you come to my house for tutoring? I can text you my address."

"Sure," Austin says. "If you can't do it, don't worry about it—"

"No, I totally can!" Ally says quickly. Then she smiles at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Austin!"

She walks off down the hall, genuinely surprised that her smile didn't have to be faked at all. He actually worked hard the whole time and wasn't a total asshole. He's definitely cold, broody, and comes off a little rough around the edges, but tutoring him was strangely easy. Not that she's complaining. She'd rather not dread tutoring him, especially since they're doing it daily now.

* * *

"Alright, girls, I have a friend coming over and we have a lot of important homework to do, so while he's here, do you think you two can entertain yourselves?" Ally says as she serves the two first-graders a snack after picking them up from school.

"Yep!" Ally's neighbor says, her curly blonde pigtails bouncing as she nods her head.

Ally's sister gasps. "You said 'he'! Is he your _boyfriend_?"

Before Ally can answer, the doorbell rings. "Coming!" Ally calls, rushing to the door and opening it. She smiles at the broody blonde standing in front of her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his signature leather jacket. "Hi, Austin!" she says cheerily, stepping aside so he can walk in.

"Hey," he says, looking around the living room as Ally shuts the door behind him.

"So, we can just head upstairs to my room—"

"Wait!" two tiny voices exclaim from the kitchen. The two girls run into the living room, still chewing their baby carrots. They immediately rush Austin, each hugging one of his legs.

Austin's eyes widen in surprise and he looks down at the girls, his eyebrows knit together and his arms hovering halfway in the air, right above the girls' heads, as if he doesn't know what to do with them. "Um…hello," he manages uncomfortably.

Ally sighs. "Girls, get off of him." They don't budge. Ally heaves a bigger sigh and pulls her sister away from Austin's leg, holding her with one arm around her midsection. "Austin, this is my sister, Izzy." Then, with her free arm, she pulls her neighbor off Austin as well. "And this is our neighbor, Elsa."

The girls giggle in her arms, and Austin raises an eyebrow. "Elsa? Like from that Disney movie?"

Elsa nods enthusiastically. "My mommy says that they named her after me!"

"Are you Ally's boyfriend?" Izzy asks in a sing-song voice.

"Um, no…?" Austin says, taking a step back.

Ally tries to ignore her embarrassment and pretends that she can't feel her cheeks heating up. "Austin, why don't you go set up in my room and I'll meet you up there in a minute?" she suggests. "Upstairs, second door on the left. It's the one that doesn't have Izzy's name on the door."

"Got it." Austin hurries upstairs, and Ally carries the giggling girls back into the kitchen.

"You don't just _ask _people if they're my boyfriend," Ally scolds Izzy. "And you can't just run in like that and hug strangers."

"He wasn't a stranger," Izzy says. "He's your friend."

"He's a stranger to you," Ally tells her. Then she takes a deep breath. "You girls finish your snack, and I'll put on a movie for you until me and Austin are done, okay? Only come get me for an emergency."

"Okay," Izzy replies.

"Can we watch _Frozen_?" Elsa asks with a grin.

"Sure." Ally puts on the movie quickly, kisses both girls on the head, and then walks upstairs to her room.

Austin is already at her desk working on something when she enters. He looks up at her.

"Okay, I'm all yours now," Ally says. "Sorry about that." She walks over to him just as he finishes the last problem from his lesson three homework. "Hey, good job."

"Yeah," is all he says back.

He turns to the next page of his notes and stares at them intently, as if he thinks they'll speak to him telepathically. She watches him for a few seconds, expecting him to say something. But he doesn't.

"Right, so, lesson four?" she says.

He nods, and she coaches him through the lesson, the last few minutes apparently forgotten.

"Hey, did you tell them I was your boyfriend?" he asks suddenly when they're halfway through the fifth homework problem. He looks over at her.

Ally shifts uncomfortably in the chair she brought upstairs from the kitchen. It's too short for her desk, so she's already been feeling awkward enough. This is definitely not helping.

"No, why would I do that?" she says, knitting her eyebrows together.

Austin shrugs and keeps working on the homework. "I dunno. That girl Brooke on the cheer team told all her friends I was her boyfriend a few months ago."

"Brooke is a…special person," Ally says. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"I guarantee you nobody else, including me, would outright lie like that."

"Right. Got it. Does…um, does your neighbor—Elsa—have an older sibling we go to school with?"

Ally shakes her head. "No, but why?"

"Well, I just wouldn't want rumors spreading about us dating. Kids have a way of twisting things, you know?"

Ally frowns a little, trying not to be hurt by his statement. She doesn't even really know why she cares. "Yeah, I get it. Well, trust me, there aren't gonna be any rumors when you're with me. Nobody even knows who I am."

Austin raises an eyebrow and looks over at her again incredulously. "Are you kidding? You're the smartest kid in our class. Everyone knows who you are."

"Are you sure we go to the same school?"

Austin nods. "Just because you don't go to parties or hang out with that inner circle doesn't mean people don't know who you are. You're pretty, super nice, and your name and face are broadcasted all over the school constantly on the posters and magazines and stuff since you're the top of our class. People don't just know you, they love you."

Ally scrunches her eyebrows together in confusion and catches a glimpse of her pink cheeks in the mirror sitting on her desk. "Um, thanks," she says. "I didn't know that."

Austin shrugs and keeps working. "Now you do."

"Well, people know who you are, too."

"That's unfortunate."

"You don't want people to know you?"

"I prefer blending into the shadows."

"Then you probably shouldn't have a signature look or act all broody and mysterious. It makes you stick out."

"Not much I can do about it now."

She opens her mouth to say more, but she can almost sense him putting up an invisible barrier between them. She imagines him putting a sign up on the pretend wall: _Personal conversation hotline overcrowded. Closed for the day. Please use alternate line: professional conversation line open. _So she drops the subject. But she's sort of happy they had that conversation, albeit short and awkward. She's always wanted to know more about the mysterious Austin Moon (just like everyone else). She may still be in the dark about him, but the fact that he talked to her at all about anything other than school means she's a step closer to him actually letting her in. So even though he gets stuck about halfway through the lesson four homework, gets frustrated, and completely shuts down and quits for the day, she still counts today as a success.

* * *

Austin starts sitting at Ally's lunch table about a month into their tutoring relationship. She's shocked to say the least—she's never even seen him in the cafeteria before. But she's nowhere near as shocked as the rest of her friends are. They all cast confused glances at the blonde mystery sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Ally, and then they raise their eyebrows at her.

"Um, hi," she says to him.

"Hey," he responds casually, holding a sandwich in one hand and his phone in the other. His eyes don't leave the screen.

Upon further inspection, she notices that his lunch consists of a bag of Gushers and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich split in two triangles with the crust cut off. She finds it a little too endearing.

She looks at all of her friends and then clears her throat. "You guys, this is Austin. I've been tutoring him."

"We know who he is," her best friend Trish says in between bites. "But I guess it's nice to officially meet you, Austin."

"I guess it's nice to meet you too," he responds, still scrolling on his phone.

The table goes silent, and Ally almost drowns in the awkwardness hanging thick in the air. Luckily Piper, one of her more amicable friends, starts a conversation.

"So Austin, where'd you eat lunch before this?"

"Outside."

"It's kinda cold out," Piper says.

"That's why I'm in here now."

"Not because of Ally?" Trish asks. "Are you guys not dating?"

Ally feels her face heat up so quickly she's worried that spontaneous combustion might be an actual risk.

"No," she says.

"Are you sure?" Trish presses. "Because you're the only person who Austin Moon has ever willingly been seen with."

"Maybe because she doesn't ask a bunch of personal questions," Austin says, swallowing the last bite of his sandwich.

"We are _not _dating," Ally insists.

"Okay," Trish concedes. "Valentine's Day is next week, though. Do you have a special someone, Austin?"

"I don't like personal questions," Austin responds, finally setting his phone down. But instead of looking at Trish, he focuses on opening his bag of Gushers and examining the first one he pulls out before popping it in his mouth.

"That means yes," Trish decides. "Is it Brooke?"

"Trish," Ally interrupts before Austin can respond. "It doesn't matter. Just drop it, okay?"

Trish rolls her eyes. "Just trying to have a conversation with the new guy who randomly came over and sat with us."

"I didn't come to make new friends, I came because it's cold outside and every other table is full."

"I don't like you," Trish decides.

"I don't care," Austin replies.

Ally looks between them and resists the urge to bury her face in her hands and scream. She was admittedly kind of excited when he came over to sit with them. She thought maybe he could join her friend group and open up a little more, but this is turning out to be a bit of a disaster.

When she and Austin meet in the tutoring center after school, he sets his backpack on the table a little harder than usual. She looks over at him as he sits down.

"Everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you just gonna give me one-word answers all day now?"

"No." He pulls out his supplies.

"Sounds like you are. Guess we'll just get started then."

"Perfect."

* * *

"Ally, do you have a valentine?" Izzy asks, bouncing up and down in her chair as Ally stirs a pot of mac n cheese on the stove.

"Is it Austin?!" Elsa squeals excitedly, full of just as much—if not more—energy as Izzy.

The two are both on sugar highs from their Valentine's Day party at school today. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to have thirty six-year-olds pass out candy to each other and then eat it right after is beyond Ally's skilled comprehension.

"No, I do not have a valentine," Ally responds, setting two bowls of food in front of the girls. "Do either of _you_ have a valentine?" she asks with a smirk and a raise of her eyebrows.

"Elsa does!" Izzy says immediately. "It's Tommy!"

"Ooh, who's Tommy?" Ally teases Elsa, whose cheeks turn bright pink.

"Izzy wants Austin to be her valentine!" Elsa exclaims.

"_Elsa_!" Izzy pouts, her cheeks turning even pinker than Elsa's.

Ally chuckles a little. "_Austin_, hm?"

"She made him a valentine and everything, look!" Elsa continues, hopping down from her chair and digging through Izzy's backpack. She produces a pink paper cut in the shape of a heart, with red glitter glue still drying all over it, except where the words _Be Mine _are written in thick black marker in Izzy's first-grade lettering.

Izzy stares down at her mac n cheese, her lip quivering. Ally opens her mouth to comfort her, but suddenly the doorbell rings. Izzy perks up, all signs of embarrassment or possible tears gone.

"I'll get it!" she exclaims, about to run for the door.

"No, _I'll _get it," Ally says, picking her up and putting her back on the chair.

Ally walks to the door and opens it with a smile. "Hey, Austin."

He waves and steps inside, just as the now-routine squeal of "Austin!" comes from the kitchen.

The two girls bound into the room, Elsa running to hug Austin's leg and Izzy jumping off the back of the couch and wrapping her arms around Austin's neck. He catches her with ease, albeit letting out a small grunt of surprise.

"Hey…" he says, still awkwardly, but with a tiny smile on his face after going through this enough times by now. Ally chuckles, watching them and knowing from experience that she can't really stop the girls anymore.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Elsa says excitedly, grinning up at him.

He shifts his grip on Izzy to one arm so he can pat Elsa's head with his free hand. She giggles under his big hand.

"Yeah," he replies, setting Izzy down. Elsa lets go of his leg, still giggling. "Oh, I almost forgot," he continues, kneeling to their eye level. He takes off his backpack and pulls out two white paper bags, one with each girl's name written on it. He hands the bags to Elsa and Izzy with a small but clearly genuine smile. "Happy Valentine's Day to you guys, too." Ally raises her eyebrows at the scene.

Izzy and Elsa gasp excitedly, opening the bags and each pulling out a handful of the candy inside. They look at each other with big smiles, and then at Austin, and then they hug him, squealing out a million thank you's.

Then, Izzy pulls away, suddenly looking shy. "I have something for you too," she says. "Be right back." She sprints into the kitchen and then comes back with the homemade valentine, presenting it to Austin with a blush.

Austin takes it, his eyes wide. "Um, thanks, Izzy," he says, his tone more surprised than anything else. "Of course I'll be your valentine."

Izzy giggles. "Really?"

"Sure," he replies with a shrug.

Izzy grins wider than Ally's ever seen and runs into Austin's arms again. He hugs her back, but she quickly pulls away, her attention already past him.

"Ally, can we watch _Moana_?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'll go put it on while you two go eat something _other _than candy," Ally says.

"I'll, uh, meet you upstairs," Austin says, clearing his throat and standing up. He heads to Ally's room while Ally leads the girls back to the kitchen.

"Now we both have a valentine!" Elsa says to Izzy excitedly.

"Yeah," Izzy says, seemingly in awe of the events of the past few minutes.

"I'll be taking these," Ally says, taking the bags of candy out of the girls' hands.

"Hey!" Elsa exclaims. "Austin gave those to _us_, not you!"

"And I'll give them back later," Ally says. "You two have had more than enough candy for one day. Elsa, if your mom found out I let you eat _another _whole bag of candy, she'd kill me."

The girls pout, but they don't argue. Ally sets the bags on a shelf she knows the girls can't reach and walks over to the TV to put on _Moana_. Once Ally makes sure Elsa and Izzy are situated with their food and the movie, she heads upstairs to her room.

"You didn't have to do that," she says, walking over to sit in the second chair she keeps by her desk now.

Austin shrugs, not looking up from where he's focusing on finishing the homework they started yesterday. "I never had siblings of my own."

"They're gonna be bouncing off the walls for the next six months with all that candy…but thank you," Ally adds with a smile.

"Don't mention it."

She nudges him with her shoulder. "Is Mister Broody Mystery going soft on us?"

He finally looks up from the homework and over at her, giving her a deadpan stare. "What do you think?"

"I think you've got a heart in there after all," she says, poking his chest.

He rolls his eyes and bats her hand away before lifting up his textbook and pulling something out from under it. "Here," he says, handing her a red envelope.

She knits her eyebrows together, looking at it like it's some piece of alien machinery. "What's this?"

"_Open it_," Austin says impatiently, gesturing towards the envelope.

She swallows and opens it, pulling out a folded white piece of cardstock. When she opens the paper, a Barnes & Noble gift card falls out onto her lap. She picks it up and reads Austin's messy handwriting inside the card.

_Happy Valentine's Day. And thanks._

_-Austin_

She looks up at him. "Austin, you didn't have to—"

"I haven't gotten lower than a C on a single math test so far this semester," he interrupts. "I know you like books and stuff, and it's a holiday, so…" He shrugs, looking her in the eyes. "_Thank you_. Really. I wouldn't be getting through this class without you."

She smiles a little. "Of course, Austin." She hugs him for the first time ever, and he's so surprised that it takes him a second to realize what's going on and hug her back.

He's surprisingly warm for someone whose demeanor is so cold, but it's a pleasant surprise. And he smells like the feeling of a warm, cozy blanket after being outside in the snow, although how a feeling could be a smell, she has no idea.

When they pull away and look at each other, his eyes aren't cold. Not by a longshot. And with that icy mask melted, she realizes just how beautiful his eyes are. But when he swallows and glances down at her lips, she panics.

"Um, how's the homework going?" she asks, turning away from him and looking down at his work.

He doesn't say anything for a second, seemingly frozen in place. She doesn't dare look, but she imagines his eyebrows crinkling together in that way they always do when he's thinking about something as he processes what just happened.

Then, almost like a light switch being turned back on, he goes back to normal, looking down at his homework too. "It's…actually not too bad," he says. "Pairing the current stuff with the stuff from last semester is kinda helping I think, in a weird way. It gives me different ways of thinking about it, I guess."

"That's good," Ally says. "Do you wanna finish that assignment from yesterday and then move on?"

"I actually just finished it, while you were downstairs," he says.

"Oh, perfect. Then move on, we shall," she replies.

He rolls his eyes. "_Stop _saying 'shall!'"

She laughs, and then they spend the next hour or so going through the next two lessons from Austin's class.

"I understand what you're saying," Austin says, staring at the work for a practice problem Ally's showing him. "And I get what you're doing, but…something just isn't clicking. The answer makes sense, but I don't understand _how_ you get from the question to the answer." Then he sighs, running a hand through his hair. _I'd like to run _my_ hands through his hair._

_Wait. What. _

"Great, now _I'm _not making sense," he says. He moves his hand from his hair down his face until it lands on the desk.

"Maybe…" Ally swallows, glancing at him and then immediately looking away. "Maybe we should call it quits for the day," she says. "Your brain is probably fried after focusing so hard for over an hour."

"No, I can _do _this," Austin says, determination in his voice.

"We can pick right up tomorrow," Ally suggests, finally looking at him. "Your eyes are glazing over. You're done for the day."

She starts closing his text book, but he grabs her wrist to stop her. She looks at him, and his eyes shift from his hand to hers a second later. His eyes are wide, like he can't believe he just did that.

His eyebrows scrunch together, which doesn't help at all. He lets go of her wrist, clearing his throat. "I'm…sorry," he says.

This time she glances at _his _lips, hoping he'll get the hint. When she looks back up at his eyes, it's like his hazel irises can't decide what color they want to be, so they just have swirls of brown and green and gold all at once. He swallows and starts leaning in.

She panics again, but this time in the good way. She lets her eyes flutter closed, and she can feel his breath on her lips.

But then there's a few rapid knocks on the door, and Izzy's voice calls, "Ally?" from outside.

Her eyes snap open and her already pounding heart skips a few beats. Austin curses under his breath and shakes his head, smiling in that strange way frustrated people do when there's nothing else they really _can _do. He looks up at the ceiling, as if to ask some greater being why they keep getting interrupted.

"Yeah?" Ally says, looking over Austin's shoulder at the door.

He makes a half sigh, half whine of annoyance and leans forward, resting his forehead on her shoulder in a strangely affectionate action for the usually cold, broody, closed-off blonde, which endears her more than she'd like to admit. She places a hand on his shoulder, a promise that this isn't over, as Izzy continues talking from behind the door.

"Me and Elsa were trying to put another movie on because _Moana _was over but I think we broke it."

Ally sighs. "I'll be right back," she says as Austin lifts his head.

"Yeah," he replies halfheartedly, closing his textbook.

She gets up and unlocks the door, opening it to meet Izzy's nervous face. She tries to focus on what Izzy explains as they walk down the stairs, but she's a little distracted by her pounding heart and what's waiting for her upstairs and how cute it is that Austin's so disappointed that they were interrupted.

When Ally sees the TV, she realizes that they just accidentally quit out of Netflix. Elsa hands her the remote in silence.

"What movie do you wanna watch now?"

"_Frozen_!" Elsa exclaims.

"Again?" Ally asks. "You watch that, like, every day."

"Yeah! _Frozen_!" Izzy agrees, nodding along with Elsa.

"Okay," Ally says with a shrug, putting the movie on.

Izzy climbs back up on the couch next to Elsa, and Ally tries to discreetly speed walk back to her room. She takes the stairs two at a time and takes a second to take a deep breath and compose herself before reentering her room. Austin looks over at her from the now-empty desk, his backpack zipped on the floor next to the chair he's sitting in. He still looks a little disappointed, but now it's only in his eyes. And now that she's focusing on him, she's pretty sure that's just his normal broodiness in his eyes and nothing else.

He stands up, shoving his hands in the pockets of his signature leather jacket. Ally shuts the door behind her, watching him as he strolls over to her.

"I'm back," she says lamely, her heart pounding again. He raises his eyebrows, looking amused. "Are you leaving?" She tries not to sound _too _disappointed, but the moment must've passed for him. "You forgot your backpack."

He stops in front of her. "Ally." He meets her eyes, and she definitely sees the swirling colors in his irises again, but there's no confusion or uncertainty anymore. This is a boy who knows exactly what he wants. "I'm not going anywhere."

She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Oh. Good. So, is this the part where you kiss me, or…"

He smiles at her, a real, genuine smile, his eyes roaming over her entire face, before he grabs her arms and pushes her against the door, finally—_finally_—kissing her. She can't help but smile too as her eyes slide closed and she kisses him back, her hand feeling around for the door handle. When she manages to lock the door, his hands move to her face while hers move to his hair. It's just as soft as she thought it'd be.

When his tongue connects with hers, she shivers and practically melts in his hands. That smile plays on his lips again as she pushes his jacket off his shoulders, and he lets go of her long enough to take it off. She tries to get his shirt off too, but every time they start pulling away so he can actually take it off he just pulls her back in, apparently unable to get enough of her. He tangles one hand in her hair, the other arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against him.

"Ally," he mutters against her lips when she pulls away for a breath of air. "I swear—" he kisses her again— "I'm not normally like this."

"Must be Cupid's arrow or something," she responds breathlessly. "Now shut up and take your clothes off."

"Valentine's Day is bullshit," he says as he lets go of her to pull his shirt over his head. He watches her do the same. "But it might be my new favorite holiday."

She rolls her eyes and grabs his hands, pulling his arms around her waist and reconnecting their lips, draping her arms around his neck. His hands move over her back, and everywhere he touches her bare skin it turns to fire. But the good kind of fire; the warming kind, not the burning kind.

He picks her up and carries her to the bed, tossing her onto the sheets playfully and then climbing on top of her with a grin. He starts kissing her neck and she closes her eyes again, running her fingers through his hair. She tilts her head back against the bed and giggling breathlessly. He smiles again, trailing down to her collarbone.

"Your laugh…" he says, barely above a whisper, his lips still brushing over her skin, "is one of my favorite things about you."

"There's more than one?"

He doesn't answer, trailing his lips back up her neck and she can feel that stupid smile on his face and she doesn't want him to ever stop. He kisses her lips again, this time soft and slow and sweet, before hesitantly pulling away and rolling off of her. When she looks at him, he's on his side pressed up against her, propped up on his elbow, and smiling down at her. He drapes his free arm over her midsection and pulls her closer to him before gently tracing his fingertips all over her arms and stomach and face.

"Of course I have more than one favorite thing about you," he says like it's the most obvious things in the world. "When we barely even knew each other I said everybody loves you."

"Everybody doesn't mean _you_," she says.

He shrugs, meeting her eyes with that easygoing smile he never wore before today but that now she can't imagine him without. "You're beautiful," he says, "and certifiably the smartest person on Earth."

She laughs at that, and his smile grows. He traces his fingertips over her face, and she closes her eyes.

"It's true," he says. "And you're kind, and you love helping people, and you love _loving _people. You make people you don't even know feel loved by you, and you don't even have to try. You light up every room you walk into, and your smile and your laugh are contagious. Not to mention you're ridiculously hot without even _trying_, in your stupid little skirts and dresses."

She giggles again and opens her eyes to look at him. He rests his hand back on her waist, still looking down at her with those swirling eyes and that gorgeous smile. "Hot?" she asks him incredulously.

"_Yes_," he insists with a laugh. "Especially those dresses that button down the front, I just wanna rip them off of you every time you wear them. Respectfully and with consent, of course."

"How long have you liked me?" she asks him with a smile.

He moves some hair out of her face. "Since that day we were talking about rumors spreading about us dating. You said no one knew who you were, which was so untrue, but you saying that made you seem so…I dunno, innocent. And I realized that you don't care about people knowing who you are, even though _you _know who everyone else is. Plus, the topic of us dating was already out there from the rumor conversation, and…" He trails off and shrugs, his eyes roaming over her face. "I dunno, it just kinda clicked into place for me. What about you?"

She smiles. "Same day, actually. It was the first time we talked about something other than tutoring. I think I already had a little crush on you after you said you actually wanted good grades and were actually trying in class, but like you said, that day it really clicked into place."

"So when you learned that I'm actually just _dumb _is when you started to like me?" he asks, but there's still a playful grin on his face.

"You're not dumb," Ally says, rolling her eyes. "But yeah, when I learned that you were _trying _and not just some slacker, I started to like you. But I _realized _I liked you that day at my house."

"So, the valedictorian fell for the dumbest kid in the class," he teases, ignoring her comment. "It's a modern-day Cinderella story."

"Hardly," Ally says with a giggle.

He's already leaning down towards her. "Agree to disagree," he mumbles, kissing her again.

* * *

"Ally!" Trish runs up to her so quickly in the hallway that she almost crashes into her. "Is it true?!"

Ally frowns. "Is what true?"

"You and Austin! Someone said they saw you walk in this morning holding hands, and someone else said they saw him kiss you, and—"

"Oh," Ally interrupts, feeling her cheeks turn pink as she tries to bite back a smile. "Yeah…?"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Trish shrieks.

Ally winces and covers her ears. "Because I knew you'd freak out and start telling people," she replies.

"Well, it's not like you two are trying to hide it!" Trish exclaims.

"I know, but rumors are rumors, whether they're true or not. Better people see for themselves than hear it and speculate."

"You still should've told me," Trish pouts. But she seems to forget about it quickly. "So…? How long?! How many dates?! Has he kissed you?! I need details!"

Ally laughs a little at her excited friend. "Since Valentine's Day, which he will deny until the day he dies because he hates the cliché. We've been on one _official _date to the ice rink and then ice cream, which was Saturday, but we hung out at home on Friday and Sunday too. And yes, he's kissed me. Once or twice."

Trish grins and squeals excitedly, grabbing Ally's hands. "I'm so happy for you!" she exclaims. Then she pauses. "Wait. Were they _real _kisses or your little nerdy excuse for a kiss?"

"It's none of your business," comes Austin's voice from behind Ally. He slings one arm over her shoulders, his other hand in his jacket pocket like always. "But since you _insist _on asking personal questions and I like to brag, they were real, thank you very much."

Trish frowns, clearly not believing him. She looks between Austin and Ally and then narrows her eyes, taking a menacing step towards Austin. "Are you _sure _about that? Because my best friend deserves—"

"Trish," Ally interrupts. "Too much." Trish frowns. "But there was tongue," she adds quietly. Trish grins, and Austin rolls his eyes at Ally's side.

"I've never seen you show this much emotion. Actually, I've never seen you show _any _emotion, other than 'broody,'" she says to Austin.

He shrugs. "Guess Ally brings out the best in me." He looks down at her with a smile, and she grins up at him.

"Aww," Trish coos when he kisses her. But it quickly turns into an "Eww," when he doesn't _stop _kissing her. "I'm already over it," she decides.

When they pull away, Austin smirks at her. "Good enough for your best friend?" he asks.

"Yeah, sure, anything for you to never do that in front of me again," she replies.

"Deal," Austin says, taking his hand out of his pocket and holding it out to Trish. She shakes it, and Ally grins.

"My best friend and my boyfriend are _bonding_!"

"Are not," Austin and Trish say simultaneously. They narrow their eyes at each other, and Ally giggles.

The bell rings, and Trish's eyes go wide. "Gotta run!" she exclaims. "Happy for you two! See you later!" Then she sprints off to class.

Ally turns to look up at Austin. "Are we really _that _couple already?" she asks him.

"I will never be _that _couple," Austin says matter-of-factly. "The brooding and leather jacket cancel out any chance of us being _that _couple. You're welcome."

Ally laughs. "What did change?" she asks, searching his eyes. "You went from quiet and cold and closed-off to smiley and, dare I say, _friendly_."

Austin shrugs again. "You believed in me when no one else did. And when you _wanted _me…you made me believe in myself."

Ally stands on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "I will always believe in you. You can count on that."

He smiles at her. "And I you. But you already knew that, being the smartest person on Earth and all." She giggles again. "I'm not kidding," he says. "You're gonna rule the world one day. I just hope I'm by your side to see it."

"You will be. I'll probably still be tutoring you in something," she teases.

"I'm taking human anatomy next semester in college," he says. "I heard it's really hard."

She rolls her eyes and whacks his chest gently. "Shut up."

He laughs and kisses her, and in that moment she realizes her one and only 'uncharacteristically dumb decision' turned out to be one of the best decisions of her life.

* * *

**what is this? i don't know! hope you enjoyed it though! i got bored and wrote this somehow. also apparently i'm rhyming now! **


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